Wednesday, October 31, 2018

COWBOYS CAN FLY - GETTING A MOVIE MADE - PART ONE

Making a film is a strange mix of emotions. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm so far out of my comfort zone it's like I'm on another planet, stark naked without a spaceship to fly me home or any weapons to defend myself should I need to. But at the same time, it's exciting, not knowing what's going to happen or who's going to sign on the dotted line to join us on our epic quest.

I'm staying away from the stuff I know nothing about and which I'm clearly going to struggle with, like finance, estimated sales and anything that requires a calculator to work out, or a degree in law to read. Instead, I'm concentrating on the sales side, selling our dream of the finished film to others and working hard to help add cast and crew to aid us on our way, in any way I can.

And then there's the act of raising finance, the hard part of persuading people to part with their hard earned money, convincing them our little film has the potential to make it big and return their investment with interest. When this phase starts, that at least will be in my comfort zone.

And we already have some good news for you... we have our director. Welcome, Giles Alderson!

It's a forward step, a big one, and we're now hoping everything else will fall into place. We also have a letter of intent from an exciting young actor earmarked for one of the main roles, but I can't talk about that at the moment. Exciting times are ahead.

I'm sure it won't all go this smoothly, it's still very early days, but as I said, it's a forward step and as long as we keep moving forward we'll get this great movie made. Stick with us, it'll be worth it.

Happy writing!

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

(UN)SOCIAL MEDIA

I've been feeling like a fool since last week's blog disaster. I should have checked the wording before publishing. I thought I had but clearly, the revised version hadn't saved. No idea why. So I can understand how I might have offended some. But I'm a grown-up and when I make a mistake I'm happy to put my hand up, admit it and apologise.

On the plus side, the fallout served as a perfect example of the message I was trying to get across; how to present yourself on social media without making yourself look like an idiot. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one who failed to achieve this.

Several people who were upset with me politely pointed out my mistake and brought me to task on it. Good. A few even contacted me directly to chat about it. This was good also. Most could see the point I was trying to make even if they didn't agree with it. It's OK to disagree with others. I have enjoyed the debates I've had with a few people since.

However, there were about four or five people on Twitter who let their anger get the better of them and their common sense to evaporate, including two usual suspects. If there's an online disagreement you can guarantee one or both of them will be there, right at the forefront. They don't seem to be able to help themselves. They'll viciously attack anyone who dares to disagree with them, rounding up and inciting their friends to gang up against their victims in greater numbers. Even when you point out they're wrong for doing so they'll continue to argue that they're justified, regardless. It appears to be a lot worse on Twitter. I don't know what it is about only having 280 characters to get your message across that makes people so aggressive at times. You would think as writers we could communicate in a better way other than simply freeing our animal instincts to attack what we fear or don't understand.

Constructive criticism is fine. Viciously attacking someone because their views differ from yours isn't. It's bullying plain and simple. And it's especially cowardly to do so from behind a keyboard. I don't care what reasoning you use to vindicate yourself for hurling abuse at a person, there is no excuse for it. Nothing can justify a personal attack on anyone. Nothing! It's called 'trolling'! The irony is these two are using the very thing to attack others they claim to be against. Hate is hate in whatever form it might rear its ugly head and if you peddle it you're just as bad as the others you accuse of doing the same.

Be kind! Play safe! And if you can't do so then get off social media for good.

Happy writing!